Ghosts

I had a job finding this entry in IMDb. It took me a few clicks to get to this performance on the BBC of Ibsen's great play. It is easier to Google the title than to find it here.

But to get down to particulars, I was very happy with this production which had some superb acting from the three principals: Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and Kenneth Branagh. The scenes of personal disclosure work very well. When Mrs. Alving tells Pastor Manders who Regina really is in Act 1, it is wonderful to see Gambon struggling with the damaging facts, looking for a way out that will benefit him.

Kenneth Branagh acts Oswald very well: that hesitant step, the unfocused eyes show us the progress of that disease that will incapacitate him before very long. His final scene with Dench is affecting.

At first, when watching this film I thought it was not going to be all that great mostly because of the stale, outdated looking stage production set. But boy was I wrong. Wow, what a performance by ALL of the actors. I could not get this movie out of my mind even days after watching it. The final few scenes, especially when the mother reveals the truth about the servant girl will leave you stunned. The movie cast only five actors but they were all fantastic. What can you say about Judi Dench that has not already been said. Natasha Richardson is beautiful. Freddy Jones was perfect for the part of a bumbling, teetotaler. It is obvious that Kenneth Branagh "as Oswald" was completely drained and exhausted with the ending sequence of this film. It will leave you in the same state as well.

The presence of the younger Judi Dench as Mrs. Alving assures a strong actress in the central role. She is wonderful, and is every inch the mother figure. The surprise is possibly the young Kenneth Branagh, before Hamlet and his other movies. He looks properly gaunt, and builds Oswald into a tragic figure just before the collapse. Michael Gambon (years before Harry Potter's Dumbledore) is sympathetic as the vicar/pastor. He almost makes the mention of insurance in act one work (one of the mechanics that Ibsen didn't disguise very well). He trades tirades with Dench and Branagh without a flinch less drama. The beautiful Miss Richardson finds just the right touch for her scenes, while her "father" was fresh off his appearance in the Elephant Man. This should be made available on DVD, it's that good.

This is a straightforward adaptation of Ibsen's stage play, wisely making no attempt to "open out" the action with external scenes, or to "modernise" the action. Its only failure in this respect is having Oswald kiss his mother full on the lips, not once but twice. This hint of Oedipal incest is NOT a part of Ibsen's play.

Dench and Gambon are both excellent, but Freddie Jones steals every scene he is in. Branagh, alas, overacts tiresomely, seemingly believing that he can add dramatic impact to Ibsen's dialogue by shouting it. He is wrong.